My Trouble with Transitions
I have a confession to make; I struggle with transitions.
The sort of large, seismic changes in the status quo of my life. Unfortunately, this has happened several times in the past few years, between graduate school in New Jersey, my first professional job in Maine, and now my current gig outside of Washington, DC. I've had to move all my belongings, get used to a new area, find my spots for the usual stuff (groceries, haircuts, doctors, etc.), try to make new friends, and get used to a new job all at once. It's really hard for me, and I only recently became aware that this is something that really affects my mental health.
The first step to any solution is awareness, so I'm grateful to have figured this out about myself. I can work to do better as time goes on. Nevertheless, it was hard for me at the time for all the reasons I mentioned before, and I also just felt like I should be able to handle it better. I was hard on myself and put pressure on myself to do better and not struggle with it since other people seemingly were able to do it.
There are fallacies interlaid all over the place here. We often only see people highlight reels and never see and hear the full stories. Also, what is hard for one person may not be for another, so we can't get into this pissing contest or comparison with others about what we were able to handle and what we weren't. If something is hard for you, that is your own journey and it is a fair and valid issue to be going through. Also, don't feel like you have to go through it alone. Tell your manager, tell your friends, tell your family even if some of them aren't nearby anymore. Call them, text them, email them, whatever you see fit to make sure you're able to just vent, or perhaps ask for advice.
Change is hard, especially when it is of the large, life altering variety. If we equip ourselves to know what support we need and try to mitigate the impact on our lives, that is as much as we can do. I know for me, it takes a few months to get to a sense of "normalcy". I've been here in the DC area just about a year and I'm still finding my way around and discovering new things. Give yourself a break, and do your best. It will get better (and if it doesn't figure out what you can to not subject yourself to whatever is making you unhappy).